


Corrupt Dib - Invader ZIM fanfic AU

by kittygirl2210



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Corruption, Invader Zim AU, Irken Dib (Invader Zim), Irken Empire (Invader Zim), Irkens (Invader Zim), Irkens are Terrible (Invader Zim), Other, Zim thinks it's kinda funny, dib is in denial
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:42:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25294129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittygirl2210/pseuds/kittygirl2210
Summary: An AU where Dib crash lands on Irk and gets a PAK implanted into him which slowly corrupts him and his DNA and turns him into an Irken.
Relationships: Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), dib and zim (friends), zim & dib enemies
Comments: 25
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi this is a story I've had in the works for a bit, I hope you all enjoy!!

Chapter 1:

Dib sat silently in the pilot's seat in Tak's (former) ship, observing the surrounding galaxies and whatever planets he could spot in the infinite void that was space. He hadn't planned on any big space adventures this week, but a sudden "Zim alarm" alerted him that Zim was going off planet. It wasn't rare for Zim to leave Earth, but it was uncommon. Zim tended to only go into space for weird plots that almost always failed and it was Dib's job to make sure of that. It felt like they had been flying for ages. "Ship?" Dib spoke aloud for the first time since they'd left Earth. 

"I thought our agreement this time was you wouldn't speak unless absolutely necessary, what do you want?" 

"Where are we even going? We've been flying for hours and we still haven't found a single trace of Zim's whereabouts." The ship let out an audible sigh. 

"Human, you'll find out when we get there. We're practically there anyway so hush up and let me fly in peace." Dib was going to retort something back, but thought against it. After all, he knew better than to cross the Irken machine, considering it could kill him in various ways. Dreadful, horrible ways that only Irkens themselves could think of. They continued flying for a short while with Dib drifting in and out of consciousness. A sudden jolt awoke him, as a bright red "ERROR!" greeted him on the frontal screen of the ship. Dib looked around and noticed a similar message popping up on all the other screens around the cabin. "Ship! What's going on? Did we hit something?!" 

"Negative, we have not hit something." Dib looked frantic as he fiddled with the console, he couldn't figure out the problem. 

"Then what's wrong?!!!" The ship groaned. 

"You'll find out in a moment." Dib flashed the ship an annoyed look. 

"Stupid ship!" he growled, gripping a button on the console. A screen behind him snapped off its cable, a large crackling sound emitting from it. The planetary hologram on the front of the console went static, and he felt the whole of the ship tilt forward and began a free fall. 

"Crash imminent." The ship stated matter-of-factly, leaving Dib to panic. 

"Crash?! Crash where?!" He hadn't noticed any planet around them as they'd been flying, at least none of the ship's interest. It hadn't alerted him of any planet incoming either to give him a chance to avoid it. He could feel the ship being pulled down into the planet's atmosphere.

"Planet Irk." 

"I-Irk?" Dib stared out ahead of him, at the planet that was seemingly coming up to meet him. "Zim's home planet." The ship's warning alarm blared louder than before.

"PLANET INCOMING" The moment those words hit Dib's ears, he knew that there was no way to stop this. He was going to almost definitely crash and die on Zim's home planet and none of his family members would even notice he was gone. Fear flashed through him as the ship entered Irk's atmosphere. Dib could only watch as flames engulfed the ship, causing him to slightly tremble in fear. He braced himself for the impact. As soon as the ship did make contact with the planet's surface, Dib was knocked unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are heating up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post two chapters in one day whoops

Time had passed. Dib was floating in a murky darkness. He didn't know where he was, not that that was important. He also couldn't remember who he was in the moment, but that didn't matter much either. A silent voice cut through the haze. A familiar voice. So harsh and some part of him was glad to hear it. At least his enemy would be stuck in this nothingness of a void with him. He was gleeful until a wave of pain rolled over him. The haze seemed to grow lighter almost, as his name was called out over and over again. "Dib." the voice said. Oh, right. He was Dib. That was him. His eyes fluttered as the voice called his name again. "Dib." Dib was struggling to open his eyes, he almost longed to go back to the comforting nothingness. The pain he'd felt had ebbed into a weird dull ache. The voice became harsher as it called his name once more. "DIB!" The boy woke with a start. He blinked, then blinked again, looking down at his hands. "Finally, you're up." The voice said. The voice. It was Zim. 

"What happened?" Dib sat up and stared at his hands, there were wounds on them but they were quickly healing. Zim gave Dib a 'are you really asking me that right now?' look.

"Well, you obviously crashed." Zim replied bluntly. "It also seems you've been modified" Dib winced at the word modified. Modified? He suddenly felt something odd on his back. Something that up until now he had hardly felt, like it was an afterthought or natural. His eyes slid to his back, to gaze at what his new "modification" was. It was a PAK. An Irken PAK, like Zim's. 

"What does that mean?! Is that why there's a PAK on me?!" Dib shouted this at Zim. Zim was unfazed. 

"Yes, earth-monkey. But, you'll be fine. The Conversion isn't programmed to humans." Dib let out a sigh of relief. "At least, it wasn't the last time I visited Irk." Zim laughed, a harsh sounding cackle that more often than not annoyed Dib more than anything but at this moment it caused him to flinch. 

"What's- What's the Conversion?" Dib hoped he wasn't making a mistake in asking this. Zim stopped cackling and gave the young human a serious look. 

"It's a full-proof plan my species has invented so that enemies of the empire never step foot on planet. It's what's kept the empire thriving and what's prevented any sort of invasion of another species on Irk. When a targeted enemy species lands on Irk, they're either immediately killed by trained soldiers or are transported to the labs. In the labs, they're sterilized and fitted with a PAK which slowly invades their entire nervous system, brains, and eventually corrupts them into becoming an Irken. It's quite a painful process." He laughed again. "Many of our enemies have fallen this way and it's used as a form of torture on prisoners, too." Dib's expression was one of fear and disgust. How horrible. 

"So that's what's going to happen to me?" Dib looked despairingly up at the alien. Zim gawked at him for a minute or two.

"Have you no ears, worm? I already told you, it's not programmed to humans! So stop doing your human sobbing sounds and let's go back to Earth." 

"I wasn't sobbing, Zim." Zim hissed at him. 

"Regardless, we need to go. I can't have the Tallest know that I'm here, it'll appear as if I'm slacking on my mission!" he shouted, louder than Dib would have liked. Dib noticed that Tak's ship was nearby, about 10 feet away, and it was completely unscathed. Weird. "I'm taking my voot and don't think about following me, earth-stink! I'm working on my next full proof plan and I don't need your wormy ape hands all over it." The human rolled his eyes in annoyance. His back was aching slightly, though, so he just ignored Zim and climbed into his own ship. 

Dib glanced at the sheer perfection of the ship. It was almost too perfect. "Ship, did you repair yourself?" The shipped made a whirring sound as though as it was turning on.

"Of course I did. That's what we're programmed to do. I thought you knew that with all your ape knowledge." Dib noticed that she was still sarcastic. 'Good. At least that one thing hasn't changed.' He rolled his eyes. "Now keep your noise tube closed and we might just get to Earth without any problems." Dib huffed, nodding his head in agreement. 'Wow, what a fun trip this will be.' he thought to himself. 

A strange figure was standing in front of him. When had he gotten here? He didn't remember. The figure's eyes began to glow, a glow that was eerily familiar to him. Familiar. Whose eyes were they? A name popped into his mind. Zim. Why was Zim here? Was this a trap? A mind trick? Dib couldn't think straight. There was a strange humming noise invading his mind. As the noise got louder, the figure moved closer. It was so close, in fact, that Dib could see the glint of its teeth in the pale light. It was smiling. He looked closer. The figure looked like Zim but something was off. It looked like...No. It couldn't be. Whatever this thing was, it looked like a strange amalgamation between himself and an Irken. His fear grew stronger, the noise grew louder, and the figure walked closer. The humming was almost deafening, but then a harsh cackle broke through it. It threatened to wash over him. It sounded like him, it was his laugh, but more Irken esque. He didn't understand how or why. The noises became too much for him, and he let out a scream. His voice did not come back to him, instead it was just the same as the one cackling. He couldn't think, he couldn't breath. He shut his eyes and when he opened them, the figure was right in front of him. It jumped and seemed to phase into him. Suddenly, he and the figure were one being and he began to laugh. It wasn't his laugh anymore, it was something new. And it terrified him, so he began to scream once more as the world around him slowly faded into obscurity.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib wakes up if that's anything. He also discovers his worst nightmare is a reality.

Dib awoke with a shock. It wasn't a normal kind of shock, it was more like a force of power going through him and suddenly he was awake. He blinked his eyes slowly, coming away from the terror of his dream. What was that? Perhaps he'd just taken what Zim had said on Irk too seriously and was having freakish nightmares from it. "Ship, how far from Earth are we?" Dib yawned as he spoke, he didn't feel rested at all. The ship made a whirring sound and responded dryly. 

"We're about one hour from your dirt ball planet." Dib grumbled under his breath. As much as he loved space, after that whole ordeal he just wanted to go back home. He wondered if his father would wonder about the thing on his back, he hadn't exactly done so the last time a PAK had attached to Dib. He practically waved it off as a fashion accessory instead of the mind eating parasite that was Zim's brain, which conveniently left him with a robot of destruction to dismantle. If Zim wasn't lying, this PAK would be good as gone as soon as he got home. He was wary to remove it now, as there was an ever increasing ache left in his back from it. Perhaps it was best to just wait until the ache was gone, after all he didn't want to end up causing some sort of injury onto his back. Dib remembered back to the day Zim's PAK had been dislodged from his back. Obviously the PAKs were removable, so why was he so worried? It's not like Zim would actually be telling the truth. No, he couldn't have been. He'd just told Dib the whole whatever process to scare him, to weaken him most likely. After all, what other purpose did Zim have in telling him? Dib didn't have to live in fear of anything because Zim was bluffing like he always had. Sighing, Dib sat back in relief and waited out the never ending ride. 

By the time they'd landed on Earth, Dib was starting to feel a sharp pain in his left eye. His eyes did tend to get dry from time to time, a product of his poor eyesight. Reaching his hand up to his eye, he rubbed it and away came some sort of pink liquid. Its texture was slimy, almost similar to saliva. 'Odd. It's never done that before.' He brought his hand out in front of him to look at the gunk and then he felt his eye start leaking. Crying? Was he crying? He hadn't cried in a long while, that couldn't be the case. But it was still leaking, and when he raised his hand to his eye once more, it was streaming the strange liquid. A sense of dread was creeping steadily into Dib, a part of him was starting to think Zim was right but there was a stubborn voice saying otherwise. There was no way in hell this was some gross alien thing. He probably just had some kind of weird eye infection, he'd need to get a reading from his father's lab. That would answer this dilemma. It wasn't anything alien, it was just an infection. Dib exited the ship, rushing into his house. On his way to the lab, he passed Gaz who was sitting on the living room couch playing her GS2. He paused for a second. "Gaz! Is dad home?" Gaz glanced over at him as though he were an idiot. 

"Of course he's not, Dib. Don't you ever pay attention at all? He's at that big international trip that we've known about for 4 months!" Dib puffed out a breath of relief.   
"Thanks, Gaz!" He continued on his way down to the lab. As soon as he entered, he snatched a swap off of one of the medical tables and took a sample of the liquid in his eye. "Computer, analyze this sample, please!" Placing the sample into the data analyzer, he watched the screen for an answer.

"Searching all databases. Scanning DNA samples. ERROR code: 741a. Analysis complete: Substance unknown." Dib scowled in disappointment. Whatever it was, it wasn't from Earth. The dread came welling up once more, threatening to throw him into a panic. 

"Computer analyze the data with all known databases using code: 828." He'd implemented a specific code into the lab's computers in order to further his space research. He had to use the code secretly so that his father didn't discover what he'd been doing. If it did show up on any record, it would only come up as some sort of random science research topic. 

"Searching databases using code: 828. Analysis complete: Found Match." A match. A match from the space database. Of course, of course it was. 

"What's the planet of origin?" The computer made a series of sounds, as if it was having some kind of difficulty in finding the planet.

"Match originated on the planet 'Irk', a planet located.." Dib let out a shrill cry of anger. Zim wasn't lying. The computer continued on, but Dib wasn't focused on it. He had to get rid of the PAK and he had to do it now. He reached back and pulled hard on it. A small burst of electricity shot through his body, the PAK was fighting back. Dib gritted his teeth and pulled harder, the shocks just grew in velocity. It wouldn't budge, he kept trying and trying until he became too weak from being shocked so many times. 

"Computer, extract the PAK off of my back! Extract it now!" Dib yelled, he was frantic. The computer brought down something akin to a claw, and it grabbed the PAK with all of its force. Still, it wouldn't budge. With each tug, though, a wave of pain rolled over Dib's entire skeletal system. "Ow, ow, ow!! Stop, computer, stop!" The computer released the PAK and Dib with it, his body dropped to the floor like a doll. He'd lost consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib has to make some tough choices

2 hours had passed since the failed PAK extraction and Dib had just come out of his stupor. He'd woken up to a sore body and an aching head. His eye felt worse than it had before, so he decided to take a look at it in a mirror. He'd almost opted against it, in fear of what he'd see. He looked in the mirror and stared at himself for half a second before yelling out in horror. His eye was a bulgy, pink mess that almost matched Zim's. It continued to drip the strange substance as it had done before, but his human eye was gone. Dib began to tremble, in fear of what he was becoming. He couldn't remove the PAK without seriously damaging his body or blacking out, but he couldn't continue on this path. He was not going to become an Irken, his worst enemy in the whole universe. Thoughts raced through Dib's head at a million miles per second, causing his headache to worsen. What was he going to tell his father? How could he show up to skool? Worse yet, how was he going to show his face to Zim? He could almost picture the scenario in his head. Zim would scoff and laugh at his folly, taunting him and mocking him for not believing the words the Irken had spoken so seriously. Dib gripped his face in anguish. There was no way in hell he would become an Irken, absolutely no way. He turned away from the mirror, covering his eye with his hand as best as he could. He walked hurriedly into the living room where Gaz was still sitting, except now she was watching TV. Dib walked to the couch and sat down next to her. She passed a glance at him and did a slight double take. "What is that?!" 

"What?" Gaz gave him a look of annoyance. "Oh, yeah, this? It's just my eye, Gaz, obviously." She gawked at him in a sort of grossed out manner. 

"Sure, but why does it look like that?" Dib sighed. 

"You remember how I went into space after Zim a couple days ago? I followed his signal until I reached a planet where the ship crashed. When I woke up, Zim was standing over me and he ended up rousing me and there was this PAK on my back. Zim told me that it was some kind of painful process that Irkens implemented on their enemies to deter them from landing on Irk but I thought he was just saying that to scare me and now I'm terrified, it's turning me into one of his kind!" Dib gasped this out quickly, which led Gaz to just stare at him for way too long for Dib's liking. She could see the fear written all over his face, and she pitied him. As much as they didn't get along, she hated seeing him scared of something that wasn't her. 

"Did you call dad about it? Maybe, maybe he can help with it-" Dib chuckled darkly. 

"You really think dad would help me with this?" He motioned to the alien contraption. "The last time one of these were strapped to my chest, he couldn't even remove it and basically waved it off like he always does. What's he going to say when I call him during his super important international meeting about alien tech? 'Hey, son! You're insane!' He'll write it off like he writes off every other paranormal thing I've brought to him. He won't be able to help me." A seething resentment was boiling over, Dib hadn't even realized how much he'd bottled up about his father. Perhaps it was because of the PAK infiltrating his mind. It was making him irritable. "Besides, I already tried using his tech to remove it and all that happened was I got electrocuted." Gaz almost looked embarrassed for suggesting their father as a solution, at least that's what it seemed like to Dib. She spoke after a long silence.

"You know, there is someone else who probably would know more about this than any of us." Dib blinked at his sister. "Dib, don't be an idiot. We both know who I'm talking about." It hit him in an instance. Good lord, no, he would NOT be going there. No way. 

"Are you suggesting we take me in a weakened state to my greatest enemy?! No way, uh uh. I am not going to Zim for this. No." Gaz glared at him. 

"Then you're going to be screwed, Dib. There's no one who knows this technology better than Zim and you obviously failed at removing it yourself, all things considered. If you want to stop the process so badly, you're going to have to stop whining and suck up your pride." Dib made an audible grumble. 

"Fine! Fine." Dib rolled his eyes.

"Good." 

Dib decided he needed to prepare himself to face Zim. He knew how relentless the Irken could be when it came to taunting him, and he didn't put it past Zim to do the same now especially if he was showing some vulnerability. But, he needed to do as Gaz told him. Suck up his pride, ignore Zim, and ask his enemy for assistance. It almost pained him more than the process to do this. After all, Zim technically was the one at fault for the whole situation. He waved a goodbye to Gaz, let out a small breath, and began a very long walk to Zim's brightly coloured house.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib goes through with his plan, but he is not happy about it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a bit to write this! I've been having to work on a lot of school work! I hope you all enjoy!

Dib trudged along the sidewalk, his boots scraping gently against the pavement. The sound of the world around him, mixed with the heat from the sun, was getting to him. Was the walk from his house to Zim's base always this long? Why did he feel so ill all of a sudden? A chill struck his spine out of nowhere and he shivered. It'd just been hot as hell, why was he so cold now? Dib pulled his trench coat tighter to his body. It couldn't be much farther now, could it? Where was he going again? He shook his head, his scythe-shaped hair ruffling at the movement. The sun was dimming. 'Is it sunset already? But it was just noon!' Dib blinked his eyes once, then twice and he realized that the dimness wasn't going away, no matter how hard he tried focusing. He looked down at his feet, they were still in motion but they were wobbly. They were holding him just fine but when he looked at them they wobbled in and out of his vision. That wasn't right. As he watched himself take another step, he felt the world around him shift and tilt. He shut his eyes then opened them again and watched the world cascade down onto its side before he felt himself hit the ground.

An ache in his back startled him into focus. He wasn't on the sidewalk anymore. But, where was he? The area surrounding him was stark white, like snow or paper. He'd been in rooms like this before, for a plethora of reasons including being labeled insane or as part of one of his father's experiments. This couldn't be one of the experiments, could it? Dib shuddered at the memories of said experiments, how could his father have subjected him to be a lab rat? Without a second thought, he turned around to look behind him, greeting another white area. He tried finding the walls of the room, but there were none. The young boy was quite literally just standing in a white void of nothing. Well, not nothing. He'd noticed, slowly but surely, that there was a creeping shadow forming not far from where he had been only a few minutes before. The shadow crouched then morphed into some sort of humanoid shape and stood upright. Dib could almost feel its eyes boring into his head. Was that his father? Feet brushing the ground, he ran as fast as he could toward the shadow but no matter how fast he ran, he could not catch it. He paused, panting, as he tried to catch his breath. He took a glance at the shadow. It was still looking at him, watching him as though it was a tiger and he was its prey. A sudden image flashed in his mind, his father had had a similar look in his eyes when he was testing on Dib, like a look of determination to reach the end goal of satisfaction. He knew what he had to do. "Hello? Who are you?! Dad, is that you? This isn't funny, you know!" The shadow blinked for the first time, and then it smiled, a devilish grin that sent a real shudder down his spine. The shadow moved closer to him, and then it paused about 15 feet away from him. The strange creature lifted its arm up, its index finger was up, and gently placed it against what Dib could make out as a very small pair of lips. The creature drew in a breath. "Shhhhhh..." it hushed, and it did so for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Gradually, the hushing grew to a crescendo and Dib realized that the white world around him was crumbling. Pieces of the floor he had stood on not long ago were now hurtling down into a dark abyss. Fear edged Dib's mind. "Stop! You...You can't! You're going to kill the both of us!" But the creature kept on and on with the hushing. The floor beneath him began to crack. Dib could feel the shift of the pieces under him, they couldn't support his weight for much longer. Behind him, however, there was more white area that was untouched by the sound. Triumphantly, he ran towards it and when he noticed the shadow figure wasn't there anymore, he let out a breath of relief. He would be safe here, for a while. 

It couldn't have been more than 10 or 15 minutes before Dib heard a sudden hushing noise, which startled him. The shadow figure had caught up to him. He turned around to see it, a path of destruction in its wake. What once had been a bright white area was now a desolate dark abyss. A lump of fear climbed up his throat and it took a good amount of effort to swallow it down. He felt sick. Anxiety churning in his stomach, Dib tried to make a run for it. There was still plenty of white area to run to, he'd be fine! That shadow couldn't get him in a million years! But, speaking too soon, he ran into a wall. 'Of course, now there's a wall! I should've known-' His thoughts were cut off as he felt the shift of the ground under him. Stray pieces of white floor were falling mere feet in front of him. He tried to call out to the shadow figure to stop once more, but it resulted in a hacking cough where Dib was spewing out the same liquid that dripped from his eye. Soon, there was only a small gap between him and the shadow figure. There was a loud crack under his feet and then he felt himself plummeting down. He looked down into the dark abyss below him and wailed, a shrill sound that reverberated around him in the emptiness. As he looked up, he could see the outline of the shadow figure above him. It was still hushing as he felt the emptiness under him rise to meet his body. 

As soon as he felt the impact of the ground, he blinked into consciousness. He didn't know where he was for a second. When he came around to his senses, he realized he was at the front door to Zim's base. How did he get here? He hadn't walked here all the way, and no one was around to have carried him. That was the first peculiar thing. The second was the fact that he wasn't actually standing, but was dangling slightly upright off the ground. Alarm shot through him and as soon as it did, he fell down onto the porch. Whatever had been holding him up disappeared. Dib's brain was still foggy from his strange dream that it took him a second to realize where he'd recognized something similar to that. Zim's PAK legs. They always seemed to carry Zim around when he'd needed them to, perhaps the PAK was reacting to what his brain was requesting and brought him to Zim's. He couldn't worry about the logistics of that now, though, there might be time later for it. Now he just needed to ask him enemy for help. He let out a grunt of disgust and proceeded to swiftly knock on the door. He repeatedly knocked until someone opened it. It was Zim, and he looked pissed. "Why are you here in MY base, Dib?!" 

"I'm not in your base." 

"You're lying!" Dib gripped Zim's collar at this and looked urgently into the alien's false eyes.

"Just shut up and listen, Zim! I need your help, it's important and you're the only goddamn creature on this planet that can help me, alright! Just please, for once!" Zim growled at Dib and activated his PAK legs to make himself slightly taller to get out of Dib's grasp. Instinctively, Dib's own PAK legs extended to compensate for this. Zim looked at his enemy in alarm, then lowered himself and retracted his legs. Dib's PAK legs followed suit after Zim's and Dib brushed his coat off. 

"Alright, Dib." 

"What?" Dib didn't understand.

"I'm going to help you. But only because I should be the one to destroy you, not that." Zim pointed a sharp finger at Dib's PAK. A sudden shiver of fear ran down Dib's spine. He did not like the sound of that.


End file.
